Three dishes, a soup and no booze - it is an incredibly sparse menu for official banquets thrown by a great culinary civilization.
One of the best things about spring in Beijing is the number of hiking options just a short car ride away.
Long before the country's top two political sessions got under way this week, everyone knew jobs would top their respective agendas.
From rain-making rockets fired high into the sky to drought-resistant seeds of wheat planted deep in parched cropland, some reprieve is already being offered to farmers in rural regions reeling from one of the worst dry spells in five decades.
With its bubble-clad exterior that pulsates in a myriad of colors at night, the Water Cube in the heart of Beijing's Olympic Green has been one of the most fascinating facets of the 2008 Summer Games for me.
I have a dirty secret that will make the greenies turn red with anger - a liking for coal.
As someone born in Singapore in the 1970s, I am hardly the person to write at length about the impact of China's reform and opening-up in the past 30 years.
When I arrived in Beijing last winter, my nose bled and throat hurt every day for two weeks.
On behalf of fellow Singapore citizens at home and abroad, welcome to your new life as one of us!
As belts tighten in these trying economic times, there are growing worries that environmental issues will end up taking a back seat.
"Don't carry too much cash with you and make sure you don't get cheated," a colleague reminded me when I told him I was going to Songshan Mountain in Henan.
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